Baby in the womb

Every parent is curious to see his or her newborn baby. But before the baby steps out in the beautiful world there are many process take place relating to its development, may it be socially, physically, mentally or emotionally. Thus it becomes very important to know the developments when the baby is in the womb.

The child is like a tadpole when just conceived, but nine months later transforms to a complete being.

To know the baby in the womb, first it is important to know the three stages it goes through during the nine months in the womb. The three stages are divided into Pre-embryonic stage, Embryonic Stage and the fetal stage. Pre-embryonic stage is the very initial stage. Here cell division takes place and the zygote grows, till it forms a cell cluster. Once this cell cluster is formed it puts itself in the uterus. Later in this stage the cells so formed arrange three layers. The next is the embryonic stage. This is almost for five and half to six week. During this time period the baby is called the embryo. During this stage the formation of organs and organ systems of the body start to develop and appear from the various layers of cells. The last stage is the fetal stage. This stage onwards the embryo is than called as the fetus. This stage begins from the eighth or ninth week of gestation and continues till the birth of the baby. This is a very critical stage for the baby in the worm, because during this stage the organs become visible. Though the fetus is just of 3-4 cms face, hands, legs can be observed. This phase is of around 30 weeks, and continues till the baby is delivered.

The five sense organs are well recognized by the unborn baby. The senses of touch, smell, sight, hear and taste plays an important part in the baby’s later future. Till the end of seventh week the baby develops the sense of touch. It begins with cheeks and than the rest of the body parts slowly. By the 32nd-33rd week heat, temperature, cold, pain can be felt by every part of the unborn baby. Sense of smell begins quite early, that is in 11th-15th weeks only. One good example is that of breast-milk. The fetus can smell it. The nasal system comprises of four subsystems. Amniotic fluid passes through the nasal cavities and detects the smell senses. Sense of hearing starts to develop in the 18th week and is completed by the 24th week.25th week is a very special for the parents, because from this week the baby in the womb starts to hear their voice and by the 27th also recognize it. There is no silence in the womb too. There is the blood’s gurgling and rumbling noise, mother’s voice and others too can be heard. The taste glands too develop by the 13th-15th week. The fetus can smell the strong smells of onion, garlic etc from the mother’s diet. This sense plays a very important role in the baby’s life. Researches prove that when the fetus is surrounded by sweet tastes fetus’s swallowing increases while it decreases when surrounded by bitter tastes. Sense of sight is developed the last of all the senses. Around 26-27 weeks after the baby’s eyes blink in the womb. Later it becomes capable to detect the dim lights and than sunlight if the mother is exposed to the sun rays.

With tremendous development in the field of medical science researches show that it is possible to communicate with the baby in the womb. The fetus responds to the teaching and external stimulus. Prenatal training proves to be helpful to mothers too as it helps to communicate with the unborn baby. The best and fruitful time to start this is in 2nd trimester. The simple reason behind this is that till this time the mothers too have adjusted to the various physical, psychological and emotional changes due to pregnancy. Baby in the womb, better called as the fetus starts to respond from the 6th to 12th week itself. Communication with the baby in the womb can be done in some very simple ways like reading, singing or talking to him or her. It has been found that the baby in the worm loves to hear the parent’s voice, and it can surely recognize it, as it is unique for him or her. This makes bonding even stronger and long lasting.